My mother had always informed me that when you have a baby, it changes everything. I never understood exactly what she meant. Because I was young and in high school, I didn’t believe it either until pregnancy happened to me. Before I had a baby, my life was basically my own. Hanging out and being worry free was what I enjoyed. When I wanted to ride off somewhere, I could go. Staying out late were also things that I had loved doing. Even though I had a vibrant social life, college was my biggest priority. I never missed a day of class and never showed up late. Biology and Mathematics were my favorite classes. I always made straight A’s and B’s and didn’t accept anything lower. Having a baby was the last thing on my mind. Graduating was my dream and I didn’t need anything to interfere with that. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was a 20-year-old college Freshman. It was near the end of the school year and I was almost five months pregnant. Nervous about my family and …show more content…
Joyful and appalled were some terms to describe how I felt. He weighed 6 pounds and ten ounces. I can’t explain how holding him in my arms that first time put a smile on my face. We took him home 2 days later. The following nights were restless. Having a full 8 hours of sleep was completely out of the picture for the first 3 months and I realized that the days of having time to myself were over. My son was my biggest priority now, not me. He was my focus and all my time was now devoted to him. I no longer had the freedom that I had before. Of course, my family were there for me, but I was still the parent. The struggle of raising a two-year-old alone hit me strong. If I wanted to be somebody, I wanted to do more than just sit around all day. Going back to college was a must. My mother would watch my son for me until I came home. Back to parenting. I finally succumbed to being a parent and it was no longer a struggle for me
Parenthood is the hardest job anyone could ever have and it demands the constant attention of two loving parents, but what happens when one parent is left with the care and responsibility of a child. Well my mother had the burden of raising two kids, holding down a full-time job, and attending school. With her busy schedule it was hard on me because I was on my own almost of the time that I needed help whether it was to feed myself or if I needed help with homework. My mother knew I was having a hard time acclimating to our new situations so she took it upon herself to teach me to become as self sufficient as a 9 year old boy could be. I first saw this as a disadvantage, but quickly learned that it had become a blessing in disguise. Under the
There were many challenges to caregiving. I never got a moment that was truly mine; everything I did revolved around the fact that the baby could begin crying at any moment. I felt anxious leaving the baby to go to a different area of the house even if I would only be gone for a few minutes. My baby was almost constantly by my side so I could care for her. Two evenings of being constantly alert for my baby’s needs had their toll.
I applaud the single-parent mothers as they have a lot on their plates. It's hard work being a parent, however, it's all worth it in the end. At first I was extremely worried- No, I was scared I wouldn't be the type of mother my baby needed; kind of mother I had.
I never dreamed of having a child at such a young are. In fact, in high school I was the typical student. I maintained good grades, stayed on the honor roll, participated in extracurricular activities, and even volunteered at local hospitals. Outside of school my friends I were always doing something after the football games or just hanging on Saturday nights, being typical teens. Soon all of that would come to an end. Little did I know for the next few months to come, I would be home to what could be our future president or the person that would make history for finding the cure for cancer. The scariest thing is, I would be forever responsible for a new life, as if trying to be responsible for my own was not enough.
For most people, becoming a parent is one of the greatest moments in their lives. I never understood the true meaning of love until I became a father. Little did I know; I would also learn the tragedy of loss.
Growing up I was always told to enjoy being young; now I see why. A plethora of young teens today become pregnant in high school. I just so happen to be one of those girls. I would have to say it was a life changing experience for me. As a result, the parallelism between the aspects of my life as a teenager and as a teen mom are stress, responsibility and my emotions.
Motherhood has taught me many life lessons. Before becoming a mother, I was a self centered child. I had no motivation to succeed. All I was worried about was where the next party was. At that time I had no want to try because I was so scared to fail. I was slowly progressing to go nowhere and do nothing with my life. That has all changed now. I no longer party or use drugs. I work full time, attend college full time and devote my all to my children. Without them I would probably be in a jail cell not where I am today.
Whether planned or unplanned, change can cause disruption to one’s stable environment if not handled in the correct way (McGarry, Cashin, & Fowler, 2012). Having children was a positive planned change for me. The decision has greatly improved my well-being and outlook on life. My thought process was changed the instant I held my first child. From that point on, every decision I make is centered on how it will affect them. Motherhood has opened my eyes to the realization that change occurs every day and there is no halting the process. As I watch my children grow, I emotionally embrace each unforeseen moment that comes with it.
When I found out I was pregnant I could never have imagined how hard my life was going to be as a teen mom. I remember my dad sitting me down and telling me he respected my decision to keep my daughter, but that I had no idea how hard I just made my life, I don’t think that in that moment I really realized what he meant, but I would soon find out. I was just starting my 11th grade year when my daughter was born so I still had two years of school left. I also had to work so I could take care of my daughter, so trying to do both seemed impossible, at one point my school wanted me to go to school during the day and at night so I could graduate. There was no way I could work and go to school during the day and at night. I had to think long and hard about what I needed to do, my daughter and I needed to be able to survive so I definitely needed my job, so I did
Giving birth to a baby is painful, but taking care of one is also as tough. One does not have to go through physical pain, but the work, safety, care, time and precautions needed to raise a baby are a lot. It is really tiring to take care of a baby at this age or even at any age, but this age is more for focusing on our goals than having kids. Therefore I learned to stay away from all these things and focus on school. Some problems that I came across were not being able to do anything properly. For example not being able to take my shower or not being able to sleep. The baby kept waking up and interrupting my sleep every hour and he needed my care and attention. This is a problem for me because I don’t really like waking up early. Also I could not take a shower as long as I always take; I had to take it really quickly and had to get out when the baby started crying. (This was a soon as I entered the washroom.) Having a baby is a lot of work and a lot of dedication. You need to stay focused and being a single parent without any support is hard. It becomes challenging to take care of a baby day in and day
Becoming a single mother, shortly before my son turned two-years-old, was life altering. Moving back in with my family, realizing I had no income, and no longer the team effort from his father, was an indescribable sense of failure as a parent. Obtaining my masters degree in Health Care Leadership from the University of Denver is my way to correct that, and properly fulfill my role and obligations of being a single mother to a remarkable little five-year-old.
I had to mature quickly and learn how to take care of someone else besides myself. I am now a mother to four children. They have taught me how to have patience. This has become something I value very much. I have learned that in life you must wait for things. I now know that there was a reason why I had my son so early and wasn’t able to go to college upon graduating high school. I am so thankful that I had patience and waited for the right time to enter. It has been 14 years since I graduated high school, and I’m attending college and know exactly what I want to become. I had patience and took care of my babies at home before I decided to go to school. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m so glad I
My mother was taking care of me, and my three other siblings all alone by herself. When my father was living my mother only had one job, but now she had to work more. She had a massive impact on our lives by making sure we had everything we needed. Because I was the oldest of my siblings, I felt like I was a parent. At just eight years old, I had to skip school just to make sure my siblings had someone to look after them while my mother worked. I was obligated to feed them, give them baths, and put clothes on them. It was very difficult, but I knew my mother had to pay bills, and take care of us and herself, so I knew she couldn’t afford a babysitter. When times got very tough, my mom would get stressed out and take it out on us by throwing tantrums, hollering at us and beating on us. I didn’t have a choice but to encourage my mother, and be the one to push her to not give
I have learned many lessons in the past year and nine months. My life has ultimately been changed by making the decision to let the lessons of motherhood impact my patience level, who I am, and who I am going to be. I am amazed every day how much my life has changed since having my son. I find myself constantly wanting to improve myself from the patience I continue to acquire; to the role model I try to be. I have come to understand that motherhood is not just the act of feeding, bathing, and caring for a child. It is a conscious decision to want better for someone who knows nothing of what the world really is. The decision is driven by an indescribable love; a love that no words do it justice. Therefore, the act of taking the love of my son to another level is what sets me apart from other young mothers.
I still can’t get over the fact I am a mother it’s not an easy job to do. I have had my fair share of struggles emotionally and physically. I worked dead end jobs and it just wasn’t enough to get by we couldn’t live. This is what gave me that push to go and get my nursing assistant certification it was a stable way to live. I had to put school on hold because I had to work and to raise him at the same time. It gets tough sometimes and I just want to scream because I never knew what my son would do next. Even though it gets stressful and there is a lot of the unknown I wouldn’t change it for the world.